1. Technical Field
The following description relates to one or more image forming devices configured to perform a cleaning operation and an operation of detecting a remaining toner amount in execution of warming-up.
2. Related Art
An image forming device has been known, which includes a plurality of photoconductive bodies such as photoconductive drums that are disposed to face a conveying belt, a plurality of development devices each of which is configured to get into contact with and apart from a corresponding one of the photoconductive bodies, and a plurality of transfer devices each of which is disposed to contact the conveying belt so as to face a corresponding one of the photoconductive bodies across the conveying belt. It is noted that each development device is configured to accommodate development agent (toner) of a corresponding one of colors, black, cyan, yellow, and magenta.
Further, the image forming device is configured to, in execution of warming-up implemented before an image forming operation, perform a cleaning operation to transfer, onto the conveying belt, toner adhering onto the photoconductive bodies and remove the toner (waste toner) from the conveying belt. It is noted that in the cleaning operation, the waste toner on the conveying belt is generally collected into a waste toner box that is disposed in a position adjacent to the conveying belt and away from the photoconductive bodies.
Further, in a warming-up operation, an operation of detecting the amount of toner remaining in each development device is performed as well as the cleaning operation. It is noted that the image forming device is required to detect the remaining toner amount at a predetermined moment during the image forming operation (e.g., during a continuous printing operation) as well. Hence, the image forming device is configured to perform the operation of detecting the remaining toner amount in a state (a contact state) where each development device contacts a corresponding one of the photoconductive bodies.